Chapter 107

The unexpected turn made the contestants burst into cheers.

“Whoa, what is this? A knight in shining armor?”

“Then who exactly are you being a knight for?”

At a drinking party, fun was everything. Just when the entertainment value of “who was the one person who didn’t choose Hwang Gyujin?” had started to fade, Yo Han’s declaration that he would take the penalty was more than enough to spark everyone’s interest again.

Without the slightest hint of disarray, Yo Han answered smoothly.

“I don’t know who it is, but I could be drinking on behalf of the one Omega who didn’t choose Gyujin...”

Liar.

He knew exactly who it was.

Gyeol quietly clenched his fist on top of his thigh. The same hand Yo Han had touched only moments ago.

“Or I could be drinking on behalf of every Omega who’s in danger of having to drink unfairly. Please interpret it however you like.”

If everyone had been sober, they might have considered it nothing more than sophistry. But the drunk contestants only cared that it was fun, so they clapped excitedly.

A drinking party was all about momentum in the first place. Everyone was there with a screw loose, running on excitement for the sake °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of the mood, so logic didn’t matter. What mattered was who could steer the atmosphere better, keep it going, and avoid killing it.

Yo Han cleanly ignored comments like “You’re so cool, Yo Han,” and “Then drink five cups,” tipped his head back, and emptied the beer in the paper cup in one go.

Gyujin, who had almost thrown the atmosphere into the abyss after making a decent opening move, seemed pleased with Yo Han’s response and offered him a fist bump.

To dare—dare—offer Yo Han Sung a fist bump. Tommy’s pupils shook violently, but Yo Han readily bumped fists with Gyujin. This deeply impressed Tommy.

“I want to ask the next question!”

Tommy shot up from his seat and shouted in an excited voice.

“The one person who voted for me, who are you?”

His booming voice made everyone burst into laughter.

Taking advantage of the fully revived mood, Yo Han naturally sat back down.

But of all places, the spot he shifted his weight onto and braced with his hand was directly behind Gyeol’s hips. If Gyeol’s upright posture loosened even slightly, his back and shoulder would touch Yo Han’s forearm.

Was it coincidence?

Or was he doing it on purpose?

Just as Gyeol’s mind began to grow complicated over the penalty drink along with everything else, Yo Han naturally tilted his head toward him.

“Are you going to grant my wish?”

His small, low voice landed vividly against Gyeol’s ear.

Amid the clamor of the drinking party, it felt as if soundproofing material had formed only around Gyeol’s ear and the edge of Yo Han’s lips, blocking out every other sound.

Gyeol shifted sideways, putting distance between them. At the same time, he drew his chin in and looked at Yo Han’s face.

Unexpectedly, their faces were close.

A handspan apart.

“...I was going to drink.”

Gyeol answered quietly. It was soft enough that it wouldn’t have been strange for the noise to swallow it, but Yo Han seemed to hear him perfectly.

“But I drank. As your knight.”

“...”

This man always looked at people like this.

“You don’t want to drink today.”

He stared into people’s eyes as if he would dig up every emotion buried beneath the surface. He uncovered things that had been hidden and covered over as if it were nothing. Slid his hand in. Rummaged. Tore through.

And every time, he made Gyeol feel like prey standing before a predator.

“Am I wrong?”

Even if he chose to shut his mouth and endure it, avoidance, in Gyeol Go’s dictionary, was escape. A declaration of defeat. Surrender.

There had been a time when he had vowed to run from him, and yet whenever he came back to his senses, Gyeol was standing face-to-face with Yo Han again. He had decided he would rather lose, rather surrender, but Yo Han wouldn’t let him give up. He cornered Gyeol and stirred his will to fight.

“...You’re right.”

That was why he made him speak the truth.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He couldn’t tell what Yo Han wanted. Even if there were clues, he wanted to keep pretending he didn’t know.

“That’s not an answer I like.”

“I thought that was the part you liked.”

He wanted to dismiss it as Yo Han simply treating him like a source of amusement.

There was that kind of thing, wasn’t there? Something too interesting to bite into and devour too easily. So you caught it and locked it up, but still wanted to roll it around under your paw a little longer first.

“You really never lose a single argument, do you, Gyeol Go?”

Gyeol wanted to believe he was only that much to Yo Han.

“That seems to be what you find fun.”

After that low whisper only the two of them could understand, Yo Han let out a quiet laugh.

Only when Gyeol saw that almost painted-on smile did he realize every cell in his body was tense, trembling as if in spasm.

They weren’t touching anywhere, and yet it felt as if his entire body were pressed against Yo Han.

It was similar to when he had been inside the Pheromone Booth. As if he were covered in the heavy fragrance of pheromones that had wrapped around his body and weighed him down.

***

“Grant my wish.”

Just as breathing started to feel difficult, Yo Han whispered one last time and straightened his body and head. His large hand brushed lightly down Gyeol’s spine and passed.

A fine shiver spread from the touch.

Gyeol turned his head the other way and propped his chin on his hand.

And until the drinking party ended, he never looked in Yo Han’s direction again.

***

Once interviews began, the drinking party naturally broke up.

Because the interview order was the same as the favorability vote order, Gyeol was able to leave first.

After finishing his interview, Gyeol did not return to the others. He headed to the lodging instead.

Isu must still have been at the drinking party, because the lights in the lodging were off. Gyeol crossed through the house, turning on the living room light, then the bedroom light in order.

After hesitating over whether to grab clothes to change into after his shower, he took only his bag for now and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

He locked the door properly, turned on the sink, and pulled his phone out of his bag.

The brief time it took for the screen lock to release felt unusually long.

There had to be some news.

A message saying Yuli was okay. Something about Hyesung’s busy day. A message saying the child had fallen asleep safely.

At last, the lock opened.

The clean rectangular glow of the phone screen reflected in Gyeol’s eyes. As he checked the phone with his long lashes lowered, his eyes widened all at once.

[ Kisoo ]

Gyeol, I couldn’t call because it might be dangerous, so I’m leaving this as a text.

Yuli’s fever won’t go below 39 degrees,

and starting today, his cough has been getting worse, so we’re at the emergency room.

The hand holding the phone trembled faintly.

When he checked the message time, it was around seven in the evening.

Hyesung dropped his phone while calling emergency services and bringing the kid to the hospital.

The screen shattered and it won’t turn on at all.

There was a gap between the messages. The next one came around nine.

One message after another had come in roughly ten-minute intervals.

Yuli’s fever has come down a little for now. Around 38 degrees...

They say he has to be admitted.

He keeps waking up, maybe from chills... and every time he wakes up, he looks for you.

(Photo)

They’ve processed the emergency admission, but they say they need guardian consent.

Call me once you see this.

In the photo, Yuli lay asleep on a hospital bed with an IV line inserted. His face was deathly pale, and the corners of his eyes were red and raw, as if he had cried a lot.

Tears sprang into Gyeol’s eyes.

It felt like reason had been sliced clean off.

Gyeol replied at once, his fingers moving quickly.

Kisoo. I just saw this.

1

Are you at the hospital now? Are you with him?

1

The read receipt did not disappear immediately. Unable to endure even that brief instant, Gyeol called Kisoo without realizing it.

Then, startled as soon as the signal rang once, he ended the call.

His heart pounded violently.

Pressing a hand to his chest, Gyeol took deep breaths and gripped the sink, dropping his head at an angle.

Yuli had been born weak.

He had suffered from all kinds of illnesses, and he had a history of asthma too.

The image of Yuli in the moments when Gyeol had held his burning body and tried to steady him, or when the child had had an asthma attack, flashed vividly before his eyes.

The hand gripping the sink tightened hard.

Get it together, Gyeol Go. Don’t get emotional.

When he looked at those small lips trembling as if the child had received an unloved life with his whole body, searching for Dad, fear surged over him like a tidal wave. Even when he spent all night wiping the child’s body with damp towels, even when he carried him on his back and ran to the hospital, he had been terrified Yuli might lose consciousness and leave the world at any moment.

The more it’s like this, the calmer you have to be.

Cold water poured endlessly from above the sink.

As all his nerves concentrated on his hearing, Gyeol’s mind slowly settled into a cold stillness.

Panicking.

Getting emotional.

Feeling heartbroken.

None of that helped solve the situation.

Gyeol knew better than anyone that it truly, utterly helped nothing.

“Grant my wish.”

The demand came out of nowhere.

Yo Han let out a low breath, as if he found it absurd.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be the one making the wish?”

The wind blew, shaking the forest. The trees rubbed their branches together with an eerie rustle.

Half-hidden in shadow, Gyeol’s eyes were wavering ominously.

He looked pitiful.

Precarious.

“Say you’ll grant it.”

“When did you get this scary? Showing up out of nowhere in the middle of the night and threatening people now.”

Enough to make him want to grant any request.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the energy to joke around with you right now. So can you please just... say okay? Say you’ll do it.”

Enough to make him want to say he would do anything Gyeol wanted.

“I don’t think I’ve ever given you that kind of trust.”

“That doesn’t matter. Just... right now. I want to believe it right now.”

“...”

Gyeol always looked at people like this.

“I don’t think you’ll just do it for me. Whatever you ask me for, I’ll definitely grant one thing in return, so...”

And because of that, Yo Han ended up doing things unlike himself every single time.

“Use the Golden Date Card on me.”